ArticleBMC health services research2017
Prevalence and determinants of polypharmacy in Switzerland: data from the CoLaus study.
Article in BMC health services research, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Benefits of medication charts provided at transitions of care: a narrative systematic review.BMJ open · 2020Pooled it
- Trial
- Pharmacist-Led Deprescribing Interventions for Older Adults with Polypharmacy: A Retrospective Cohort Study of Community Pharmacy Practice in Japan.Drugs & aging · 2026Article
- Polypharmacy, determinants, and adverse outcomes in elderly patients with heart failure: a multicenter retrospective cohort study of 7,361 subjects.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Polypharmacy and Its Spatial Clustering in Japan: An Ecological Study of the Standardized Polypharmacy Ratio.Cureus · 2025Article
- Patterns of medication use following breast cancer diagnosis: an Australian population-based study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
- Determinants of polypharmacy among ambulatory cardiovascular disease patients in Iluababora and Buno Bedele Zones, Ethiopia: prospective observational study.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2025Observational
- Community-level social capital and polypharmacy among public assistance recipients in Japan: A multilevel cross-sectional study.SSM - population health · 2025Article
- Polypharmacy among adults receiving outpatient care at Kitgum General Hospital, Northern Uganda.BMC primary care · 2025Article
- Operational Definitions of Polypharmacy and Their Association with All-Cause Hospitalization Risk: A Conceptual Framework Using Administrative Databases.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- A Review of Risk Factors for Polypharmacy: Age, Level of Education, and Physician's Attitude.Cureus · 2024Review
- Food Supplements and Their Use in Elderly Subjects-Challenges and Risks in Selected Health Issues: A Narrative Review.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Understanding the Extent of Polypharmacy and its Association With Health Service Utilization Among Persons With Cancer and Multimorbidity: A Population-Based Retrospective Cohort Study in Ontario, Canada.Journal of pharmacy practice · 2024Article
- Rate of Polypharmacy and Its Determinants Among Older Adult Cardiovascular Patients at Hiwot Fana Comprehensive Specialized Hospital in Eastern Ethiopia.Current therapeutic research, clinical and experimental · 2024Article
- Risk Factors Associated With Polypharmacy and Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Ambulatory Care Among the Elderly in the United States: A Cross-Sectional Study.Drugs - real world outcomes · 2023Article
- Observational
- Prevalence and Correlates of Polypharmacy, and Drug Utilization Pattern in a Semi-urban Population: Results from the Pars Cohort Study.Archives of Iranian medicine · 2023Article
- Factors related to polypharmacy and hyper-polypharmacy for the elderly: A nationwide cohort study using National Health Insurance data in South Korea.Clinical and translational science · 2023Observational
- Polypharmacy and associated factors: a gender perspective in the elderly Spanish population (2011-2020).Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Article
- Prevalence and Factors Associated with Subjective Memory Complaint in a Semi-Rural Community in Chile.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPolypharmacy is a frequent condition, but its prevalence and determinants in the Swiss mid-aged population are unknown. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence and determinants of polypharmacy in a large Swiss mid-aged population-based sample.
methodsData from 4938 participants of the CoLaus study (53% women, age range 40-81 years) were collected between 2009 and 2012. Polypharmacy was defined by the regular use of five or more drugs.
resultsPolypharmacy was reported by 580 participants [11.8%, 95% confidence interval (10.9; 12.6)]. Participants on polypharmacy were significantly older (mean ± standard deviation: 66.0 ± 9.1 vs. 56.6 ± 10.1 years), more frequently obese (35.9% vs. 14.7%), of lower education (66.6% vs. 50.7%) and former smokers (46.7% vs. 36.4%) than participants not on polypharmacy. These findings were confirmed by multivariate analysis: odds ratio and (95% confidence interval) for age groups 50-64 and 65-81 relative to 40-49 years: 2.90 (2.04; 4.12) and 10.3 (7.26; 14.5), respectively, p for trend < 0.001; for low relative to high education: 1.56 (1.17; 2.07); for overweight and obese relative to normal weight participants: 2.09 (1.65; 2.66) and 4.38 (3.39; 5.66), respectively, p for trend < 0.001; for former and current relative to never smokers: 1.42 (1.14, 1.75) and 1.63 (1.25, 2.12), respectively, p for trend < 0.001.
conclusionOne out of nine participants of our sample is on polypharmacy. Increasing age, body mass index, smoking and lower education independently increase the likelihood of being on polypharmacy.
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